There are many ways to green a building
The Healthy Building Network (HBN) is a national network of green building
professionals, environmental and health activists, socially responsible
investment advocates and others who are interested in promoting healthier
building materials as a means of improving public health and preserving
the global environment.
Bringing Environmental Health To Green Building:
The Healthy Building Network prioritizes green building strategies that
are closely linked to the goals of the environmental health movement.
We bring the perspectives of people directly impacted by the source, production,
use and disposal of building materials to green building professionals:
architects, planners, designers, specifiers, builders and manufacturers.
We identify common interests, advocate careful materials selection as
a mutually beneficial means of improving the quality of life all along
the material lifecycle, and coordinate coalitions and campaigns to accelerate
the transition to healthier building materials.
Worst in Class:
Some building materials - such as arsenic-treated wood and PVC plastic
(also known as vinyl) - stand out because they are directly linked to
some of the worst environmental health problems, such as cancer, reproductive
disorders and childhood disease. The Healthy Building Network prioritizes
these "worst in class" materials for replacement with healthier, commercially
available alternatives that are competitively priced and equal or superior
in performance.
 Organizing
Along the Lifecycle:
Worst in class materials tend to do their damage all along their lifecycle,
from source to production to use to disposal. The Healthy Building Network
collaborates with people, organizations and communities affected all along
a material's lifecycle, including: communities that are home to manufacturing
or disposal facilities, workers at those facilities, occupants of buildings
using those materials, as well as firefighters and other first responders
to emergencies.
Shifting Markets:
Shifting market demand from worst in class materials to healthier, available
alternatives is often the most effective means to eliminating health and
environmental hazards throughout a material's lifecycle. The Healthy Building
Network collaborates with green building professionals and manufacturers
interested in transforming the multibillion dollar building materials
market.
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Ad from the successful campaign to convince Home Depot and Lowes
to stop selling arsenic treated wood
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Success Story:
Read about how we used this approach to transform
the pressure treated wood industry
The Healthy Building Network is guided by an advisory panel of grassroots
activists, health professionals and leaders in the green building movement.
Arsenic Fact Sheet
(PDF File)
The Healthy Building Network is a project of the Institute for Local
Self-Reliance (ILSR). Learn more about ILSR.
To contact the Healthy Building Network, email us at
info@healthybuilding.net or call 202-898-1610 x200.
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